A brush with art at afternoon tea
Oliver Li’s “Chef said the canned corn has expired” dish is a culinary tribute to Andy Warhol’s and Wong Kar-wai’s film
Art month brings to town the cream of the art world and also inspires the city’s chefs to create food art of their own kind.
A distinguished food professional of note, Chef Oliver Li is the creative culinary master of Whisk at the Mira Hong Kong. This hotel overlooks Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui, at the heart of the commercial, shopping, dining and entertainment district.
To mark Hong Kong’s art month in March, Chef Li has created a six-course art-inspired menu. Each dish is indeed a work of art. One of these is the chargrilled sweet baby corn, served with marmite, honey sauce, and caramelized walnuts. Called “Chef said the canned corn has expired”, it was inspired by Wong Kar-wai’s movie Chungking Express, which showed 30 cans of pineapple about to expire and the iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol.
A dessert named “Doctor’s prescription”, made of ice cream, herbal syrup, and haw flakes, is expected to bring back childhood memories. The sweet-and-sour hawthorn flakes garnish is believed to lower the blood pressure. The dish comes together with a string-tied parcel such as those that can still be seen in many herbal shops in urban Hong Kong.
These dishes are a nod to the street art of the UK-born, Hong Kong-based visual artist Szabotage, some of whose works will be featured in the pop-up exhibition “Reflections” in the restaurant’s wine lounge from March 28 to April 22.
Since his arrival in Asia five years ago, Szabotage says he has been inspired by Hong Kong’s iconic style of urban architecture and emotive streetscapes. Truly outstanding, his pieces incorporate bright neon colors mixed with popular cultural references.
Given the standard of the culinary dishes created by Chef Li, this should be a meal to remember, and lucky diners during the period will have the pleasure of a double feast for the eyes!
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong is adding to the festive spirit with an “Art Basel Afternoon Tea” served every Sunday during March from 2 to 6 pm. Executive Pastry Chef Ringo Chan is pulling out all the stops with an interactive afternoon tea buffet that expresses his creativity through sweet delights.
Chef Chan has added to his usual range of traditional pastries served on three-tier stands.
One of these is entitled “Buildings forest”, his interpretation of a Hong Kong urban jungle. Cream and sugar are used as bricks and mortar, thus paving the way to civilization, says Chan. Now, that’s an enticing thought.
Another is his “Let me free” creation — an edible art piece that offers guests a chance to immerse themselves more fully in a creative process. The dessert set comes with almond cookies, adorned by bird paintings placed inside a bird cage. Guests are encouraged to complete the artwork by using edible “paint”. Nice touch!
Four Seasons Hotel has lined up interactive edible delights as part of their “Art Basel Afternoon Tea”, served all through March. “Doctor’s prescription” is a combination dessert featuring ice cream, herbal syrup and sweet-and-sour hawthorn flakes.